1crayon.jpg (10866 bytes)  October 19, 1999 -- Meeting Summary

9:00am - 12:00pm

Satellite Room

The Radisson Inn

SeaTac, Washington

 
Commission Attendance
Mona Lee Locke and Melinda French Gates Co-Chairs; Kathryn Barnard, Don Brunell, Kim Cook, Yolanda Cortinas-Trout, Robbin Dunn, Sheri Flies, Peter Jackson, Lynn Kessler, Marty Jacobs, Mary Ellen O’Keeffe, Scott Oki, Gigi Talcott, Yvonne Ullas, Kyle Yasuda and Diana Yu.
Special Guests
Sue Russell, North Carolina TEACH program
Mary Garguile, Early Childhood Coordinator
Agda Burhchard, STARS Manager, WAEYC
John Burbank, Director, Economic Opportunities Institute
Joyce Kilmer, Training Coordinator, Child Care Action Council
 Meeting Summary
Mona. Locke opened the meeting by welcoming everyone and explained that the Commission will be canceling its December meeting. The next meeting will be on November 16 followed by a meeting on January 18th.
Robin Zukoski announced that the Department of Corrections now is developing a database of resources that is continually updated by inmates. This program (AWRD) is collecting information about family resources to make available to parents and community groups. Since this is the same information we were planning to collect it eliminates the need for our study.
Melinda Gates explained that today’s meeting will focus in on Child Care and that our November meeting will focus on Parent Education.
Mona Locke then introduced special guest Sue Russell from the North Carolina Child Care Services Association (CSA). CSA developed and administers the TEACH (Teacher Education and Compensation Helps) program.
Presentation by Sue Russell
The TEACH program is a statewide program designed to provide educational scholarship opportunities for child care center teachers, directors, and family child care home providers who work in regulated settings.
TEACH started in 1990 with $23,000 from five sources. They developed a pilot project that would pay a teacher 80% of her school tuition, 90% of her books. They paid the child care center for the teacher’s time off. The child care centers give a raise upon completion and the teacher agrees to stay on the job for a period of time. Turnover dropped from 42% to 10%.
In 1993 they expanded the program to a statewide effort. TEACH is now funded through a mix of child care development block grants, state dollars and private funds.
TEACH is currently funded at 2.2 million dollars by the state of North Carolina and receives $200,000 in private dollars. 10 states are now using the TEACH model - Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Idaho, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
A new initiative in North Carolina expands on TEACH by providing access to health insurance for child care providers.
Principles of TEACH
  • Partnerships – the professional development of the early childhood workforce requires a three way partnership – teacher, employer and the TEACH program.
  • Diversity – work forces are different; urban/rural; church based care; nonprofit/for profit; family child care, etc. TEACH most address all needs.
  • Existing Systems – TEACH is not an education system. It is a funder for existing community college and university systems.
  • Collaboration – key to TEACH is working with already existing groups. Their advisory committee includes recipients, child care centers, family home providers, the university system, community college system, professional organizations, etc.
Components
  • Scholarship – tuition, books, travel, time release. NC has 8 different scholarship models but each of them include these basic components.
  • Education – TEACH pays for credit hours only.
  • Compensation – raise, bonus, or both.
  • Commitment – participant must stay with employer for a period of time.
Outcomes
  • Penetration – are we reaching the child care workforce?
  • Participant satisfaction
  • Performance target - education, compensation and turnover
  • Statistics in NC: 5,000 TEACH participants in 1998. Participation by 35% of regulated centers and 7% of regulated family homes. For the vast majority the Early Childhood Credential is the starting place. 1,300 are working on their Associate degrees. TEACH impacted the community college system by increasing demand.
Lessons Learned
  • Start small – it takes time to develop interface with community colleges.
  • Data is critical to success. You must be able to demonstrate who you are helping and what difference it makes.
  • Keep focus on performance targets.
  • Always be inclusive and collaborative.
  • Focus on principles.
  • Remember to be political and strategic.
  • Always be advocates for system change.
  • Always partner the funding from a wide cross section of sources.
Discussion
Mona Locke asked if the cost of child care has gone up in programs utilizing TEACH.
Sue Russell replied that generally the cost to parents has not gone up because of TEACH. Some family home providers have chosen to raise rates but generally the costs have not risen.
Mary Ellen O’Keeffe asked for clarification on which child care organizations could participate. Only those that are regulated?
Sue explained that yes, only those providers who work in facilities that are licensed and regulated by the state can participate in the program. This has created an incentive to become licensed.
Marty Jacobs noted that beyond education high quality training is also available for child care teachers. How did the TEACH program choose to use the college system alone?
Sue Russell noted that in early studies it was proven that the formal education of teachers is directly related to good outcomes for children. 60% of the child care workforce in North Carolina said they wanted to attend college. A degree has currency that regular training does not.
Sheri Flies asked if the program pays for an associate degree, which generally is a degree with a broad background – a background not necessarily in child care.
Sue responded that yes, the program does apply to associate degrees, whatever it takes to earn the degree. English, math, sociology, etc.
Kyle Yasuda asked if the TEACH program focused at all on teacher/child interactions and relations.
Sue explained that the TEACH program is strictly a scholarship program. They do not calculate the effect of the program on child development. They believe that the studies are linking teacher education level and improved child outcomes.
Don Brunell noted that Washington has many good bachelor programs in Early Childhood Education. But studies show that many people end up working in a completely different field. He asked Sue if this is a trend for people who receive early education degrees.
Sue Russell noted that in time people may move on to different careers but part of the TEACH contract is these teachers making a commitment to stay in the field for a specific period of time. Generally, it takes teachers several years at minimum to obtain a degree. During this time they are all working full time in child care. For example, if a person started with TEACH in 1995. Earns her AA in 1998; BA in 2003. Her last commitment year is 2004. This person will be a full time provider for 11 years.
Gigi Talcott expressed concern that the release time for teachers interrupts bonding time between caregiver and child.
Sue Russell explained that usually only one teacher in a center participates in the program. Not all of the caregivers are leaving. There is no huge concern about a teacher being gone a few hours a week.
Mona Locke asked if any teachers are turned down for the scholarship.
Sue Russell explained that generally people are not turned away. However, they may say no if too many people from one center apply. They try and discourage this.
Mona Locke asked how much money it cost them last year to administer the scholarships.
Sue Russell explained that it cost $1 million - averaging out to $525 dollars per student.
Kim Cook noted that we may have highly trained people but there is still not enough money to pay them adequate wages. She asked Sue about the Child Care Wages project in North Carolina.
Sue responded that the Child Care Wages project started under Smart Start. Based on individual assessments, child care providers could be eligible for up to $3,000 per year in supplemental income. This money is given in six-month increments.
Melinda Gates asked what is the ultimate goal of the TEACH program in terms of numbers of teachers.
Sue explained that ultimately the goal would be to have all child care teachers enrolled in the scholarship program. Although that would take many years to achieve it’s really the ultimate vision.
Kathryn Barnard commented that it appears most infants are in family homes – do they get left out of the equation?
Sue responded that in North Carolina there are more infants in child care centers than in family homes and that most kids in the home setting are infants.
Scott Oki commented that the overall picture of TEACH looks great. He asked what opponents of this program are saying – especially when it comes to public dollars.
Sue replied that nothing really stood out or has been very controversial. A Republican Governor was in office when the program started and was in support of it and they have been able to gather bipartisan support ever since.
Lynn Kessler noted that budgets are always open for discussion and subject to change. She asked if TEACH was looking for more private dollars in case public dollars were to collapse.
Sue Russell noted that they will always need public dollars. She feels that their legislature would have a very hard time cutting this program. The amount of support for the program is very strong.
With no further comments or questions, Mrs. Locke called for a break.
Guest Panel
Melinda Gates explained that we invited a panel to provide insight into some of the innovative projects occurring in Washington State and how the TEACH model might dovetail with what is already happening here. She then introduced the guest panel.
Mary Garguile, the Early Childhood Education Coordinator at Olympic College started the panel presentations by outlining what the Community and Technical Colleges are now doing. They provide workshops for the STARS program; they help teachers obtain certificates and they serve many teachers who are already working in the child care field. They focus on identifying the type of work and the type of skills needed for that work. For example a lead toddler teacher may have different educational needs than an infant assistant teacher. Community Colleges offer workshops, courses, one-year certificates and two different two-year degrees for early childhood education
Agda Burchard, STARS Manager at WAEYC, gave a brief overview of the STARS program. STARS is a career development system. Licensed child care providers are now required to go through this program. STARS has two requirements. First, is that a teacher must complete a 20 hour course within the first six months of beginning employment or being licensed. Second, the teacher must obtain 10 hours of continuing education each year. Agda explained that there are some scholarships available for all teachers that are required to participate and that there are a few scholarships for assistant teachers. STARS is also building a registry to list all providers and training.
Agda encouraged Commissioners to make sure that models work equally for all programs and that subsidized programs need to be able to participate in any new program.
John Burbank, Director of the Economic Opportunity Council, gave an overview of the career development ladder program. He explained that child care providers tend to make on average $7.73 an hour. The 4 million-dollar career development ladder program will have its kickoff in January of 2000. The program uses TANF reinvestment funds to subsidize provider wages. The career ladder increases pay in relation to education, experience and level of responsibility.
Joyce Kilmer, Training Coordinator at Child Care Action Council, talked briefly about community based training. Community based training serves a population that is not served at Community Colleges. Child Care Resource and Referral is their biggest training provider. Community based training can be used by busy professionals who can give a few hours of their time each year for training. The hours are more demanding in the Community College setting.
Discussion
John Burbank commented that TEACH has helped lay out a path in front of us. We have all the components to make the project happen. The task now should be to bring together all of these components. We also need to find out what is appropriate for family home child care.
Mary Ellen O’Keeffe asked if someone took 20 hours outside of a credit bearing program do they still have the option to get credit. How does this work?
Mary Garguile responded that at her college they don’t compete when offering training so that they can fill the gaps. They really want people to get what they need from STARS. She states that nearly all community colleges are giving 2 credits for the STARS training. There are a lot of mechanisms in place for articulating training into credit.
Kim Cook noted that we should be attempting to create a permanent monetary increase for teachers. She asked Sue Russell if providing a bonus is as effective as an increase in hourly wage.
Sue Russell responded that a bonus still increases their wages. It’s just in a different form. The improvement in outcomes have been dramatic. There must be a link between education and compensation.
Gigi Talcott noted that using $200 million of welfare savings is not cheap. We should be using this welfare money on the elderly.
John Burbank noted that it does cost money to make the career wage ladder happen and the child care centers have to take on some of the costs. A center is only reimbursed $22 per day for a child who is subsidized. With a ratio of 4 infants to 1 caregiver, it means a center may only receive $88 dollars per day for 4 children. This is hardly enough to pay teachers and administrate a center.
Mrs. Locke thanked the panel for their participation in the discussion and then asked Robin Zukoski for an update on the TANF letters.
TANF Discussion
Robin Zukoski presented new drafts of the TANF letters that incorporated changes discussed at the last meeting.
Lynn Kessler noted that we should acknowledge (in paragraph 3) that all parents, regardless of their status, should be encouraged to stay home.
Kathryn Barnard reminded Robin that we need to change the language of "state’s children" as noted in the second page.
Mrs. Locke then asked for a consensus on the letters. Consensus was reached.
Robin thanked Commissioners for their comments and noted that the letters would be finalized and sent out as soon as possible.
Mrs. Locke then asked for public comment.
Public Comment
Julie Coen, a member of Common Sense, explained that she admires the program in North Carolina for taking the initiative to help people get an education. Julie stated that she sees nothing wrong with doing this unless it is at tax payer expense. Julie states that she wonders why we are subsidizing people who are in an industry where there is not enough demand. We’re being asked to subsidize their education and their career. Julie asks why the Commission has refused public debate, and refused to go on the air. She challenges the Commission to a 1 hour question and answer session at the next meeting so she can get some answers.
Lynette McCarty commended the Commission for its work and for looking at the TEACH program as a model for Washington State. She encourages the Commission to continue looking at the wage issue.
Jean Hueston explained she always enjoys hearing about the work the Commission is doing and is delighted to hear about more child care provider training. She feels we really need to educate TANF mothers.
Cathy Zeisel commends the work of the Commission and feels that child care issues are now at a critical stage in society.
Sue Anderson from CHEF explained that their organization has now shifted its focus to families with children ages 0 –5. She looks forward to working with the Commission on future issues.
Elizabeth Bonbright-Thompson from Child Care Resource and Referral feels that offering a bonus to teachers might be a way to include family providers in the scholarship program.
Sharon Oldfield explained that she is asking for information on time and place for subcommittee meetings as described in RCW 42.30.010 and asked that the meeting dates, time and place of subcommittee meetings, as well as minutes past and present be placed on the Commission’s web site. Mrs. Oldfield also states that the idea of public private partnership is a "fascist technique. It was use by Hitler and now being used by China."
Julanne Burts states that the Children’s Bill of Rights document is a creed, a belief, not a document based on Science – The science as claimed by the Governor. She states that the National Association for the Education of Young Children explains on their web site that a majority of reading problems tend to occur in children from poor families. She states that the Commission’s insistence that you have advertise to all people is suspect and expensive. She states that the Commission’s partnership with an agency that has been guilty of destroying families to make it even stronger is deplorable.
Michelle McKee stated that government involvement in society wrecks society. She refers to a television show called America is Number One where they look at how Japan raises their kids and how well they are doing. The show then refers to India who has a lesser population and is much poorer because their government is totally involved in all of the decisions. In Hong Kong the government is not involved. She states that Mexico is still a third world country because they have government involvement and private foundations. She states that if the Commission really wants to help our children then please get down and out or our lives.
The meeting was closed.

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